OEE351-

RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM

UNIT III WIND ENERGY

Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 1

CONTENTS
• Wind energy principles, wind site and its resource
assessment, wind assessment, Factors influencing wind,
wind turbine components, wind energy conversion
systems (WECS), Classification of WECS devices, wind
electric generating and control systems, characteristics
and applications.

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 WIND ENERGY
• Wind energy is a form of solar energy.
• Wind energy(or wind power) describes the process by which wind is
used to generate electricity.
• Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical
power. A generator can convert mechanical power into electricity.

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 Wind energy principles
• Wind energy is a form of solar energy.
• Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by
the sun, variations in the earth's surface, and rotation of the
earth.
• Mountains, bodies of water and vegetation influence wind
flow patterns.
• Wind speeds vary based on geography, topography and
season.
• As a result, there are some locations better suited for wind
energy generation.
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Power in the Wind
• Wind results from the movement of air due to atmospheric
pressure gradients. Wind flows from regions of higher
pressure to regions of lower pressure.
• The larger the atmospheric pressure gradient, the higher the
wind speed and thus, the greater the wind power that can be
captured from the wind by means of wind energy converting
machinery.
• The generation and movement of wind are complicated due
to a number of factors.
• Among them, the most important factors are uneven solar
heating, the Coriolis effect due to the earth‘s self-rotation,
and local geographical conditions.
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Uneven solar heating
• The unevenness of the solar radiation can be attributed to four
reasons.
• First, the earth is a sphere revolving around the sun in the same plane
as its equator. Because the surface of the earth is perpendicular to
the path of the sunrays at the equator but parallel to the sunrays at
the poles, the equator receives the greatest amount of energy per
unit area, with energy dropping off toward the poles. Due to the
spatial uneven heating on the earth, it forms a temperature gradient
from the equator to the poles and a pressure gradient from the poles
to the equator. Thus, hot air with lower air density at the equator
rises up to the high atmosphere and moves towards the poles and
cold air with higher density flows from the poles towards the equator
along the earth‘s surface.
• Without considering the earth‘s self-rotation and the rotation-
induced Coriolis force, the air circulation at each hemisphere forms a
single cell, defined as the meridional circulation.
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Uneven solar heating

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• Second, the earth‘s self-rotating axis has a tilt of about 23.5° with
respect to its ecliptic plane. It is the tilt of the earth‘s axis during the
revolution around the sun that results in cyclic uneven heating,
causing the yearly cycle of seasonal weather changes.
• Third, the earth‘s surface is covered with different types of materials
such as vegetation, rock, sand, water, ice/snow, etc., Each of these
materials has different reflecting and absorbing rates to solar
radiation, leading to high temperature on some areas (e.g. deserts)
and low temperature on others (e.g. iced lakes), even at the same
latitudes.
• The fourth reason for uneven heating of solar radiation is due to the
earth‘s topographic surface. There are a large number of mountains,
valleys, hills, etc. on the earth, resulting in different solar radiation on
the sunny and shady sides.
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 Coriolis effect • Idealized atmospheric circulations
The earth‘s self-rotation is another
important factor to affect wind direction and
speed. The Coriolis force, which is generated
from the earth's self-rotation, deflects the
direction of atmospheric movements. In the
north atmosphere wind is deflected to the
right and in the south atmosphere to the
left. The Coriolis force depends on the
earth‘s latitude; it is zero at the equator and
reaches maximum values at the poles. In
addition, the amount of deflection on wind
also depends on the wind speed; slowly
blowing wind is deflected only a small
amount, while stronger wind is deflected
more.
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• In large-scale atmospheric movements, the combination of the
pressure gradient due to the uneven solar radiation and the Coriolis
force due to the earth‘s self rotation causes the single meridional cell
to break up into three convectional cells in each hemisphere: the
Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, and the Polar cell as shown in Fig.
• Each cell has its own characteristic circulation pattern. In the
Northern Hemisphere, the Hadley cell circulation lies between the
equator and north latitude 30°, dominating tropical and sub-tropical
climates.
• The hot air rises at the equator and flows toward the North Pole in
the upper atmosphere. This moving air is deflected by Coriolis force
to create the northeast trade winds. At approximately north latitude
30°, Coriolis force becomes so strong to balance the pressure gradient
force. As a result, the winds are defected to the west.
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• The air accumulated at the upper atmosphere forms the subtropical
high-pressure belt and thus sinks back to the earth‘s surface, splitting
into two components: one returns to the equator to close the loop of
the Hadley cell; another moves along the earth‘s surface toward
North Pole to form the Ferrel Cell circulation, which lies between
north latitude 30° and 60°.
• The air circulates towards the North Pole along the earth‘s surface
until it collides with the cold air flowing from the North Pole at
approximately north latitude 60°. Under the influence of Coriolis
force, the moving air in this zone is deflected to produce westerlies.
The Polar cell circulation lies between the North Pole and north
latitude 60°. The cold air sinks down at the North Pole and flows
along the earth‘s surface toward the equator. Near north latitude 60°,
the Coriolis effect becomes significant to force the airflow to
southwest.
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SITE SELECTION
• In the case of wind farms, a number of turbines (ranging from about 250 kW to 750 kW) are
connected together to generate large amounts of power. Apart from the constraints resulting from
the number of turbines, any site selection should think over the technical, economic, social,
environmental and political aspects.
1 Technical Considerations
Many technical factors affect the decision making on site selection including wind speed, land
topography and geology, grid structure and distance and turbine size. These technical factors must be
understood in order to give pair-wise scores to sub-factors.

1.1 Wind Speed

The viability of wind power in a given site depends on having sufficient wind speed available at the
height at which the turbine is to be installed. Any choice of wind turbine design must be based on the
average wind velocity at the selected wind turbine construction site.
1.2 Land topography and geology
Wind farms typically need large lands. [10] Topography and prevailing wind conditions determine turbine
placement and spacing within a wind farm. In flat areas where there is nothing to interfere with wind flow, at
least 2600-6000 m2/MW may be required. Wind turbines are usually sited on farms that have slope smaller
than 10-20%.

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1.3 Grid structure and distance
The connection of wind turbines to an electricity grid can potentially affect reliability of supply
and power quality, due to the unpredictable fluctuations in wind power output.
1.4 Turbine size
• Required height for the installation of turbine above ground is one of the important factors that
affect the annual energy generation. Turbine size is related with the energy output, because the bigger the
turbine size is, the more wind it is exposed to.

2. Economic Considerations
The economic sub factors that affect the site selection include capital cost, land cost and
operational and management costs. It is important to make economical evaluations by considering time value
of money due to long periods of service life of wind farm projects.
2.1Capital cost
Construction, electrical connection, grid connection, planning, wind turbines, approvals, utilities
and management are the main components of capital cost for wind farm projects.
2.2 Land cost
• For the site selection, main economic factor is the cost of the land where the wind farm is
constructed; because, the cost of land primarily depends on the region, soil condition and the distance from
the residential area. Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 13
2.3 Operational and management cost
There will be control functions such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) which will
provide control of each wind turbine in O&M facilities. Business rates, maintenance expenses, rents, staff payments
are main components of O&M costs.
2.4 Electricity market
Existing of an electricity market for the energy generated is an important factor affecting the economic benefits of the
project. There should be energy demand in regions close to wind farms.

3.Environmental Considerations
The environmental sub factors that affect the site selection of a wind farm include visual impact,
electromagnetic interference, wild life and endangered species and noise impact.
3.1 Visual impact
Wind turbines are located in windy places, and most of the time, those places are highly visible. To
many people, those big towers with 2 or 3 blades create visual pollution. To minimize the impacts of visual
pollution, many investors implement the actions.
3.2 Wild life & endangered species
Wind farms affect birds mainly through collision with turbines and associated power lines, disturbance
leading to displacement including barriers to movement, and loss of habitat resulting from wind turbines. To minimise
the risk of bird collision, site selection should be done precisely.

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3.3 Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference is an electromagnetic disturbance that interrupts, obstructs, or
degrades the effective performance of electronics or electrical equipment. Wind turbines may reflect, scatter
or diffract the electromagnetic waves which in turn interfere with the original signal arriving at the receiver.
3.4 Noise impact
Noise can generally be classified according to its two main sources: aerodynamic and
mechanical. Aerodynamic noise is produced when the turbine blades interact with eddies caused by
atmospheric turbulence. Mechanical noise is generated by the rotor machinery such as the gearbox and
generator. Noise could be reduced by better designed turbine blade geometry and by selection of proper
operating conditions.

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4.Social Considerations
Social factors that affect the selection of a site include public acceptance, distance from residential area and
alternative land use options of candidate wind farm site.Public may oppose projects because of possible
environmental or social effects. Distance from residential area gain importance not to interfere with social life during
wind farm construction or operation.
4.1 Regulatory boundaries
There may be some national or international level regulation related with the construction and operation
of wind farms. These regulations must be explored before evaluating the socio-political position of a wind farm
project. Most of them probably change from region to region.
4.2 Public acceptance
Public is the most vital component of a region and their opposition to issues can lead to abolish
proposed projects. Support of public for wind energy generation is expected to be high in general but proposed wind
farms have often been met with strong local opposition.
4.3 Land use
Land use affects the decision of wind farm siting from two points of view. Firstly, there are some cases
where no wind farms can be built although sufficient wind speed was detected. These cases are mainly related with
land use or condition.Land related constraints include forest area, Wetlands, Land of high productivity,
Archaeological sites, Aviation zones, Military zones etc.
4.4 Distance from the residential area
Noise and vibration stemming from the wind turbines may cause residents to suffer from sleep disturbance,
headaches, visual blurring. Those types of complaints can be avoided if the wind turbines are sited a considerable
distance from the residential area.

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 Wind Energy Characteristics
• Wind energy is a special form of kinetic energy in air as it flows.
• Wind energy can be either converted into electrical energy by power
converting machines or directly used for pumping water, sailing ships,
or grinding grain.
• Three key factors affect the amount of energy a turbine can harness
from the wind:
i) wind speed,
ii) air density, and
iii) swept area.

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Wind power
• Kinetic energy exists whenever an object of a given mass is in motion
with a translational or rotational speed. When air is in motion, the
kinetic energy in moving air can be determined as
Ek = (½)mv2 -----------------------------------------------(1)
where
m is the air mass and
v is the mean wind speed over a suitable time period.
The wind power can be obtained by differentiating the kinetic energy in
wind with respect to time, i.e.:
Pw = dEk /dt--------------------------------------------------(2)

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• Pure, dry air has a density of 1.293 kg m−3 at a temperature of 273 K and a pressure of
101.325 kPa.
• The power density in the wind will range from 10W/m² at 2.5m/s (a light breeze) to
41,000W/m² at 40m/s (a hurricane).
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Power Equation and Betz Criteria
• A German physicist Albert Betz concluded in 1919 that no wind
turbine can convert more than 59.3 % of the kinetic energy of the
wind into mechanical energy turning a rotor.
• This is known as the Betz Limit or Betz law
• Power Coefficient (Cp ) = 2 Pavailable /( )
• Maximum Power Coefficient value Cpmax = 0.593

• Power available Pavailable x Cpmax

• Pavailable x 0.59

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Blade swept area
• As shown in Fig., the blade swept area
can be calculated from the formula:

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• Power (P) = Force x Velocity
• The thrust force experienced by the rotor (F) can be expressed as

the rotor torque (T)

where R is the radius of Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP-

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• Torque coefficient (CT)= 2 Tavailable /( )

• tip speed ratio (λ) = =

• where ω is the angular velocity and N is the rotational speed of the rotor.
Cp
• = =λ
CT

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• Sum 1:
• Consider a wind turbine with 5 m diameter rotor. Speed of the rotor
at 10 m/s wind velocity is 130 r/min and its power coefficient at this
point is 0.35. Calculate the tip speed ratio and torque coefficient of
the turbine. What will be the torque available at the rotor shaft?
Assume the density of air to be 1.24 kg/m3 .
• Ans:
• A = 19.63m2
𝐫𝐚𝐝
•𝝎= 𝟏𝟑. 𝟔
𝐬
• λ = 𝟑. 𝟒
• CT = 0.103
• Tavailable = 313.39 Nm

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 Wind Speed – Power curve
• Wind speed largely determines the
amount of electricity generated by
a turbine. Higher wind speeds
generate more power because
stronger winds allow the blades to
rotate faster. Faster rotation
translates to more mechanical
power and more electrical power
from the generator. The
relationship between wind speed
and power for a typical wind
turbine is shown in Fig

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• Turbines are designed to operate within a specific range of wind speeds.
The limits of the range are known as the cut-in speed and cut-out speed.
The cut-in speed is the point at which the wind turbine is able to generate
power. Between the cut-in speed and the rated speed, where the
maximum output is reached, the power output will increase cubically with
wind speed.
• For example, if wind speed doubles, the power output will increase 8
times.
• This cubic relationship is what makes wind speed such an important factor
for wind power. This cubic dependence does cut out at the rated wind
speed. This leads to the relatively flat part of the curve in Fig. , so the cubic
dependence is during the speeds below 15 m/s (54 kph). The cut-out speed
is the point at which the turbine must be shut down to avoid damage to
the equipment. The cut-in and cut-out speeds are related to the turbine
design and size and are decided on prior to construction.
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Tip Speed Ratio (TSR)
• The Tip Speed Ratio (often known as the TSR) is of vital importance in
the design of wind turbine generators. If the rotor of the wind turbine
turns too slowly, most of the wind will pass undisturbed through the
gap between the rotor blades.
• Alternatively if the rotor turns too quickly, the blurring blades will
appear like a solid wall to the wind. Therefore, wind turbines are
designed with optimal tip speed ratios to extract as much power out of
the wind as possible. The tip speed ratio is given by dividing the speed
of the tips of the turbine blades by the speed of the wind.
• In general, three-bladed wind turbines operate at a TSR of between 6
and 8, with 7 being the most widely-reported value.
•
Example
• If a 20 mph wind is blowing on a wind turbine and the tips of its
blades are rotating at 80 mph, then the tip speed ratio is 80/20 = 4.
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Classification of Wind Energy Conversion Systems
1) Based on axis
(a) Horizontal axis machines
(b) Vertical axis machines
2) According to size
a) Small size machines (upto 2 kW)
b) Medium size machines (2 to 100 kW)
c) Large size machines (100 kW and above)
i. Single generator at single site
ii. Multiple generators
3) Types of output
a) DC output
i. DC generator
ii. Alternator rectifier
(b) AC output
i. Variable frequency, variable or constant voltage AC.
ii. Constant frequency, variable or constant voltage AC
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4) According to the rotational speed of the turbines
i) Constant speed and variable pitch blades
ii) Nearly constant speed with fixed pitch blades
iii)Variable speed with fixed pitch blades
(a) Field modulated system
(b) Double output indication generator
(c) AC-DC-AC link
(d) AC commentator generator
iv) Variable speed constant frequency generating system.
5) As per utilization of output
(a) Battery storage
(b) Direct conversion to an electro magnetic energy converter
(c) Thermal potential
(d) Inter convention with conventional electric utility guides
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 Types of Wind Power Plants (WPPs)
• A wind power plant is simply a collection of wind turbines in one area.
There are several different types of wind power plants. The following class
• Remote Wind Power Plants
• Areas which are remote but are blessed with good wind speeds and
frequency need a wind turbine which is maintenance free or low-
maintenance for long periods of time (just imagine a service technician
rushing across mountains and valleys on foot or bullock-cart to repair a
turbine time and again). This means that they should have the capability of
standing against all odds of climate even if they are relatively smaller in size
than their conventional counterparts. These types of turbines are known as
remote wind power turbines and are specifically designed with these
objectives in view. ification is based on their construction, size and usage.

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• Hybrid Wind Power Plants
• Wind is not fully reliable so we cannot depend on wind alone for generation of power.
The best bet would be to combine a wind power plant with some other renewable
source of energy, like solar energy. That would be certainly a better idea and you can
imagine that when there is a lot of heat, the solar generators would do their job and
when the sky is overcast and winds are blowing, the wind power plants would take
over. Such an arrangement is known as hybrid arrangement and is useful in regions
where there is a lot of heat and wind.
• Grid Connected Wind Power Plants
• This concept is similar to a hybrid system. The wind power plant is used in conjunction
with a main grid which supplies most of the power. The main purpose of the wind
turbines is to supplement the energy supply for the grid, whereas the main function in
the hybrid system is to complement the energy supply, hence the minor difference in
the set up.
• Wind Farms
• As the name itself suggests, a wind farm is a collection of wind turbines which
collectively power a given area or utility harnessing the wind force in a collective
manner thereby amplifying the effect of a single unit. These configurations are used at
various locations depending on the conditions of the region and the presence of other
sources of electrical supply. An optimum mix would consist of an ingenious
combination of the various sources in the best possible manner
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 Types of Wind Mill
• Wind Turbines
• Wind turbines, like aircraft propeller blades, turn in the moving air and
power an electric generator that supplies an electric current. Simply stated,
a wind turbine is the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make
wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns
the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes
electricity.
• Wind Turbine Types 1. Horizontal-axis 2. Vertical-axis
• Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups; the horizontal-axis variety,
like the traditional farm windmills used for pumping water, and the vertical-
axis design, like the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French
inventor. Most large modern wind turbines are horizontal-axis turbines.
•

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 Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)
• Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical
generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small
turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a
wind sensor coupled with a servo motor.
• A HAWT has a similar design to a windmill, it has blades that look like a propeller
that spin on the horizontal axis.
• Horizontal axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator
at the top of a tower, and they must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are
pointed by a simple wind vane placed square with the rotor (blades), while large
turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor to turn the
turbine into the wind. Most large wind turbines have a gearbox, which turns the
slow rotation of the rotor into a faster rotation that is more suitable to drive an
electrical generator.
• Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is usually pointed
upwind of the tower. Wind turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades
from being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are
placed a considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted up
a small amount.
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Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT)

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Classification of wind turbines

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Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 36
• Yaw refers to the rotation of the entire wind turbine in the horizontal axis. Yaw
control ensures that the turbine is constantly facing into the wind to maximize the
effective rotor area and, as a result, power.
• Pitch angle adjustment is the most effective way to limit output power by changing
aerodynamic force on the blade at high wind speeds.
• The Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) is an extremely important factor in wind turbine
design. TSR refers to the ratio between the wind speed and the speed of the tips of
the wind turbine blades. The further away from the center, the faster the blades spin.
• With a higher TSR the blades are moving faster which means that they 'touch' more
wind during each rotation. This means that they are able to extract more energy from
the wind which means they are more efficient.
• The rotor Tip Speed Ratio, TSR depends on the blade airfoil profile used, the number
of blades, and the type of wind turbine. In general, three-bladed wind turbines
operate at a TSR of between 6 and 8, with 7 being the most widely-reported value.

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• Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence,
because they don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line
with the wind. Additionally, in high winds the blades can be allowed to
bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since
turbulence leads to fatigue failures, and reliability is so important, most
HAWTs are upwind machines.
• HAWT Advantages
• The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear.
In some wind shear sites, every ten meters up the wind speed can increase
by 20% and the power output by 34%.
• High efficiency, since the blades always move perpendicularly to the wind,
receiving power through the whole rotation. In contrast, all vertical axis
wind turbines, and most proposed airborne wind turbine designs, involve
various types of reciprocating actions, requiring airfoil surfaces to backtrack
against the wind for part of the cycle. Backtracking against the wind leads
to inherently lower efficiency.
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HAWT Disadvantages
• Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy blades,
gearbox, and generator.
• Components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and
brake assembly) being lifted into position.
• Their height makes them obtrusively visible across large areas, disrupting
the appearance of the landscape and sometimes creating local opposition.
• Downwind variants suffer from fatigue and structural failure caused by
turbulence when a blade passes through the tower's wind shadow (for this
reason, the majority of HAWTs use an upwind design, with the rotor facing
the wind in front of the tower).
• HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to turn the blades
toward the wind.
• HAWTs generally require a braking or yawing device in high winds to stop
the turbine from spinning and destroying or damaging itself.
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Cyclic Stresses and Vibration
• When the turbine turns to face the wind, the rotating blades act like a
gyroscope. As it pivots, gyroscopic precession tries to twist the turbine
into a forward or backward somersault. For each blade on a wind
generator's turbine, force is at a minimum when the blade is horizontal
and at a maximum when the blade is vertical. This cyclic twisting can
quickly fatigue and crack the blade roots, hub and axle of the turbines.

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Vertical Axis Wind Turbines( VAWTs)
• Vertical axis wind turbines, as shortened to VAWTs, have the main
rotor shaft arranged vertically. The main advantage of this
arrangement is that the wind turbine does not need to be pointed
into the wind. This is an advantage on sites where the wind direction
is highly variable or has turbulent winds.
• With a vertical axis, the generator and other primary components can
be placed near the ground, so the tower does not need to support it,
also makes maintenance easier. The main drawback of a VAWT
generally create drag when rotating into the wind.

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• It is difficult to mount vertical-axis turbines on towers, meaning they
are often installed nearer to the base on which they rest, such as the
ground or a building rooftop. The wind speed is slower at a lower
altitude, so less wind energy is available for a given size turbine. Air
flow near the ground and other objects can create turbulent flow,
which can introduce issues of vibration, including noise and bearing
wear which may increase the maintenance or shorten its service life.
However, when a turbine is mounted on a rooftop, the building
generally redirects wind over the roof and this can double the wind
speed at the turbine. If the height of the rooftop mounted turbine
tower is approximately 50% of the building height, this is near the
optimum for maximum wind energy and minimum wind turbulence.
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Advantages of VAWT
• No yaw mechanisms is needed.
• A VAWT can be located nearer the ground, making it easier to
maintain the moving parts.
• VAWTs have lower wind startup speeds than the typical the HAWTs.
• VAWTs may be built at locations where taller structures are
prohibited.
• VAWTs situated close to the ground can take advantage of locations
where rooftops, mesas, hilltops, ridgelines, and passes funnel the
wind and increase wind velocity.

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Disadvantages of VAWT
• Most VAWTs have a average decreased efficiency from a common
HAWT, mainly because of the additional drag that they have as their
blades rotate into the wind. Versions that reduce drag produce more
energy, especially those that funnel wind into the collector area.
• Having rotors located close to the ground where wind speeds are lower
and do not take advantage of higher wind speeds above.
• Because VAWTs are not commonly deployed due mainly to the serious
disadvantages mentioned above, they appear novel to those not
familiar with the wind industry. This has often made them the subject
of wild claims and investment scams over the last 50 years.

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VAWT subtypes
• Darrieus wind turbine
• Darrieus wind turbines are commonly called "Eggbeater" turbines, because
they look like a giant eggbeater. They have good efficiency, but produce
large torque ripple and cyclic stress on the tower, which contributes to
poor reliability. Also, they generally require some external power source, or
an additional Savonius rotor, to start turning, because the starting torque is
very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using three or more blades which
results in a higher solidity for the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade area
over the rotor area. Newer Darrieus type turbines are not held up by guy-
wires but have an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.
• Savonius wind turbine
• A Savonius is a drag type turbine, they are commonly used in cases of high
reliability in many things such as ventilation and anemometers. Because
they are a drag type turbine they are less efficient than the common HAWT.
Savonius are excellent in areas of turbulent wind and self starting.
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Darrieus wind turbine Savonius wind turbine

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Parts of Darrieus wind turbine

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 Savonius Wind Turbine
• The Savonius wind turbine is a type of vertical-axis wind turbine
invented by the finnish engineer sigurd Savonius in the 1920’s. It is one
of the simplest wind turbine designs. It consists of two to three
“scoops” that employ a drag action to convert wind energy into torque
to drive a turbine. When looked at from above in cross-section, a two
scoop Savonius turbine looks like an S-shape. Due to the curvature of
the scoops, the turbine encounters less drag when moving against the
wind than with it, and this causes the spin in any wind regardless of
facing.
• Drag type wind turbines such as the Savonius turbine are less efficient
at using the wind’s energy than lift-type wind turbines, which are the
ones commonly used in wind farms.

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• A Savonius is a drag type turbine, they are commonly used in cases of high
reliability in many things such as ventilation and anemometers. Because
they are a drag type turbine they are less efficiency than the common
HAWT. Savonius are excellent in areas of turbulent wind and self starting.
The schematic diagram of savonius wind turbine as shown in fig.5.10.
Wind direction

direction

Principle of Savonius rotor

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Savonius Wind Turbine
• Advantages
• (1) Having a vertical axis, the Savonius turbine continues to work
effectively even if the wind changes direction
• (2) Because the Savonius design works well even at low wind
speeds, there’s no need for a tower or other expensive structure to
hold it in place, greatly reducing the initial setup cost.
• (3) The device is quiet, easy to build, and relatively small.
• (4) Because the turbine is close to the ground, maintenance is easy.
• Disadvantages
• The scoop system used to capture the wind’s energy is half as
efficient as a conventional turbine, resulting in less power
generation
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Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 51
Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 52
Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 53
• Thus the coefficient of performance of an aeroturbine is the fraction of power in
the wind through the swept area which is converted into useful mechanical shaft
power. The coefficient of performance is widely utilized throughout the recent
wind research. We have seen that Cp for horizontal axis wind machine has
theoretical maximum value = 0.593.
• We know that the convertible power of energy is proportional to the cube of the
wind speed. Thus if the wind speed decreases by 20%, the power output is
reduced by almost 50%. The wind speed may very considerable from day to day
and from season to season. The efficiency of a wind generator depends on the
design of an wind rotor and rotational speed, expressed as the ratio of blade tip
speed to wind speed i.e., VT/V (is called as TSR – Tip Speed Ratio), if n is the
rotation frequency, ie., rotation per second, if a rotor diameter D meters, the tip
speed is πnD m/sec.
• The dependence of the power coefficient on the tip speed ratio (TSR) for some
common rotor types is indicated in Fig. 5.13. It is seen that the two-bladed
propeller type of rotor can attain a much higher power coefficient (i.e., it is more
efficient) than the American multi-blade wind mill and the classical Dutch four-
bladed windmill. In practice two-bladed propeller (horizontal axis) rotor are ound
to attain a maximum power coefficient of 0.40 to 0.45 at a tip speed ratio in the
range a roughly 6 to 10
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Efficiency of wind
• If a turbine's best efficiency is 40% at a wind velocity of 9 meters per
second (about 20 mph), it will be 40% only at that wind speed. At all
other wind speeds it will be something worse. That wind turbine will
generally operate at lower than its best efficiency, because wind
speeds are never constant or average.

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Dr.B.ADHAVAN,AsP- AY-(2024-2025)-OEE351-RES- III CSE 56
 Thank you

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